Dangerous Control
by strykethroughme
Summary: "You can help me control this Spock!" "I do not know if I can..." "Please, I...I need you." "What would you like me to do Captain?" "Touch me." But what happens when Jim finds something deep within himself? A danger that only his First Officer can control with the erotic touch of his fingers. Spock/Jim (slow build). Rated M for mature content.
1. Chapter I

**A/N: **This story is something that's been rattling in my head. I hope I can convey it to your liking. It does have a bit of angst and is slow building so if you are expecting Kirk and Spock to jump each other in the prologue then...this might not be for you.

The ST characters are not mine, only the OCs. I have taken the liberty to kind of combine certain elements from the Abram's Universe, TOS, and TNG. So if something seems a bit out of place, that is why. Just go with the flow, yeah? This story will probably start off slow, but it will pick up in later chapters. Just stick with me.

Also, the OC character Nebula, I see her as a youngish Dania Ramirez; and the OC character Wrecker...well, I haven't decided yet on him, but those two characters...you can see them however you like.

I sincerely hope you guys enjoy this. Reviews will get you some delicious replicated cookies of your choice...

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**CHAPTER I**

"Captain?...Captain?..._Captain?_"

James T. Kirk jumped a little in his chair; his mind coming back to what he was doing. Wait…what _was_ he doing?

He blinked his eyes and noticed that everyone on the bridge had stopped what they were doing and were now staring at him.

Sulu raised both brows, his head tilted to the side. "Captain? Are you alright?"

Jim's brows furrowed. He looked around. Yep, everyone was staring. "Pfft! Yeah!" He waved off Sulu, in a playful tone. "Haven't you people seen anyone zone out before?"

"Looks to me like you were daydreaming, Captain." Uhura smirked, before turning around to her station. "What's that old song? Daydream believer…"

Snorting, Kirk rolled his eyes in mild annoyance, but it was still playful. "_No_, I was zoned out."

"Vell, Keptin…you did look a little like you ver daydreaming…" Chekov piped in.

Jim let out a breath in frustration, rubbing his face with both hands. "Can you people—and non-people—please get back to work?!"

"We would Captain, but we were awaiting your orders," said Sulu.

Jim almost asked him what the hell he was talking about until it came rushing back to him. Admiral Abbott, the one who took Alexander Marcus' place, hailed the Enterprise and gave them their new mission. It was one he said was very important to him, which was why the message was delivered personally. Jim had agreed and they were on their way to Gamma V. Or at least, they would be. He hadn't given them the order.

He gave an embarrassed smile to Sulu and nodded his head. "Punch it. Give me about half." They had just finished a mission that nearly got Carol killed the week before. That had taken so much out of all of them that Jim knew no one was ready for another _big_ mission just quite yet. It was why he told Sulu to go half speed on the punch. He knew exactly where Gamma V was so, within a day or two, they would arrive on the planet. That should give them all a little more down time, unless some alien vessel wants to chase them and kill everyone on board again.

Jim nearly jumped out of his chair and had to stop himself from running to the turbolift. He needed a break. A _big_ one. In the one year they had been on their five-year mission, he was a like a kid in a candy store. They had discovered things others in Starfleet couldn't dream of. But recently, he had grown a little tired. He would never tell Bones this, but he was in for a good, long nap.

Reaching his quarters took less time than it should have. In record time, he flew through the common room and into the bedroom. His head couldn't hit the pillow fast enough. As soon as it did, his eyes grew heavy and they were closed. He could feel his entire body relaxing into the cushion on the bed.

"Hello, Darling."

His eyes flew open.

Carol walked into the bedroom with a luxurious smile, leaning down and kissing Jim on the lips. "Sleeping are we?"

"Arg, I know…but I just need fifteen minutes and I'll be all better," Jim mumbled into his pillow.

"Well good, because I need you all rested for tonight."

He wanted to ask…but then again he didn't. He asked anyway. "What's tonight?"

Carol shook her head and chuckled. "Jim, our dinner night. It's the night you and I have dinner, alone, just the two of us." She bit her lip. They hadn't had dinner night in weeks. Not since before she was almost killed by that Mugato on the planet Neural. After that, she noticed Jim had changed a little.

"If that's tonight, then why are you here now?" His voice sounded slightly more frustrated than he really was. He winced to himself.

She blinked and sighed heavily. "I heard you weren't feel up to par so I decided to check in on you because that is what couples do, Jim. Even the busy ones, they check in on one another from time to time to make sure they are bloody breathing!"

He raised his head, but before he could even attempt to give his half-ass apology, she was gone. Sighing, he plopped back down. He didn't mean to be such an ass to her. Carol had done a lot for him in the past year, which is one of the reasons they decided upon a 'relationship', as she called it. They had grown close. She saw passed his cocky, arrogant, immature, and reckless attitude and went straight to his heart. As much as he cared for her, he couldn't bring himself to love her. Not the way she loved him.

For a while now, he had had a lot on his mind; thoughts that were starting to overload his mind. His mother. His father. Khan. Pike. Everything and everyone. It was as if they were all speaking to him at once, trying to tell him something, but he couldn't make it out.

He had no one to talk to about this. Bones, his bestfriend, would order him to have a physical before sending him to Carol, who would give him some kind of psych evaluation. There was no way Jim was going through any of that shit.

Uhura? Maybe, but she would just tell him to man-up. Sulu? Chekov? Maybe.

Then there was Spock.

The two of them hadn't spoken too much in about a year, unless it was mission related. It was partially Jim's fault. Every time he tried to talk, the voices would come back. Spock would raise his brow and Jim would just say, "Forget about it."

He needed to talk to someone soon or make the voices go away at least. If he didn't, he felt his head would explode.

**~oo000oo~**

His nap didn't last long, as he was hailed to Engineering by Scotty. There were a bunch of things he had to sign off on and of course, he stayed down and talked to Scotty and some of the crew for a little while. Afterwards, he was back on the bridge and stayed more than the allotted time for his shift. He was an hour late for dinner and he knew Carol would be pissed.

He punched the code in to his room. He wouldn't be surprised if she had gone to her own room she shared with Uhura. The door lifted with a _swoosh_ and in he walked in. He was wrong. There she was.

He placed on his best apologetic smile. Honestly, he was actually really sorry.

Carol sat at the table, decorated for two. She was out of uniform and in a simple, sexy black dress. Her blonde hair had grown during the year, but she had kept it short. It was a tad bit longer than it was when she first met Jim though. She doubted he even noticed she had put a few spiral curls to liven up her look. "You're late," she stated flatly.

"I know. I'm sorry. I had a few things I needed to take care of. I guess I should have been working instead of napping." Of course he didn't tell her that his nap lasted mere minutes. Then again, she probably already knew that. He noticed she was silent. "I'm sorry, Carol."

Her eyes rose to his. Brilliant blue is what she called them. She had to look away or she knew she would have started crying. Standing, she retrieved their meals she had replicated an hour ago, placing them on the table. Without a word, she began to eat.

Now, Jim felt like a total asshole. He going to have to make it up to her. Then again, a part of him didn't care. He couldn't understand for the life of him why he was starting to feel this way about her. When he first met her, he was smitten. At the start of their five year voyage, he was excited to have her on board. Shortly after that, they started seeing each other.

Maybe the relationship started too fast for him? Maybe he was getting bored? There was nothing wrong with her, physically or intellectually. She was incredibly beautiful and smart. Her body was gorgeous…what was wrong with him? Why was he losing interest?

Her fork clanged her plate loudly, pulling him from his thoughts. He winced, as a sharp pain shot through his head. "Fuck…" he mumbled.

"Do you love me Jim?"

He paused with his fork. They were about to have this conversation again. "Carol, please—"

"Just answer the question! It's a simple question!"

"But the answer isn't so simple for me, okay?" He stood up abruptly. The headache was getting worse. No, it wasn't a headache. It was a migraine. The more it pounded behind his eyes, the more those pesky voices came back to him. What the fuck was going on? "I care about you, I do, but love? Carol…you're asking something of me that I don't think I am capable of."

She bit her lip, her head hanging down. "It's because of your family, right?"

He knew she didn't mean to throw that in his face, but it still hurt nonetheless. "My father died because of me. My step-father hated me because of _me._ My mother left for space because of me and my brother, George, left because of me." He sighed, then added quickly. "Actually, he left because of our step-father but the man was a dick because of me, which made George leave, so when you think about it, George left because of me."

She stood and walked to stand in front of him; her hands on either side of his face. "Jim, look at me." When he did, she continued. "I understand how you could think that everything in your life is bad because of you. But, that's not true, Jim. That's beyond untrue. You are so special and you don't even know it. You will do great things in life. In the future! You just have to let go of the past, Darling." She leaned up on the tips of her toes and placed a heartfelt kiss to his lips.

He responded to it, wrapping his arms around her waist, pulling her closer. "Thank you Carol."

"I love you Jim," She smiled into his neck.

"I know."


	2. Chapter II

**CHAPTER II**

"Captain's Log – Stardate 2260.125: the Enterprise has followed its path to Gamma V and is stationed above the precise location of the target."

So, Jim may have miscalculated the time frame they were going to make it to Gamma V. He was about a day off, but that's okay. They still made it. Admiral Abbott had relayed coordinates to the ship. In turn, Jim had Chekov send them to Scotty.

Jim and Bones stood on the transporter platform, while Spock was below them, giving them an unamused look.

"Captain, I must repeat: I do not find it in your favor to retrieve the girl from Gamma V. While it does not seem to be a planet at war, we still do not know what to expect."

"Expect the unexpected Spock, now hurry up and get up here!"

Spock nearly sighed, but pushed it down as he followed orders of the Captain.

"Mr. Scott," Jim called out. "Beam us down."

**~oo000oo~**

The planet was a desert planet, much like the old Vulcan, but nowhere near the hot temperature that Vulcan and now, New Vulcan possessed. Jim looked around. The girl was nowhere in sight. He didn't even know how she looked. Gamma V was inhabited, but it was a new planet. There were only a couple thousand of lives there. Was she in one of the villages?

Jim sighed deeply. "Where the hell is she? She was supposed to be right here."

Bones huffed. "I'm a Doctor Jim, not a babysitter."

"Well, shit, let's go find her."

Spock glanced at Jim. "Captain, while I understand your haste in finding the girl, our knowledge of Gamma V is limited."

Bones rolled his eyes. "The hobgoblin is right," he muttered. "We ain't got a clue what's out there. We'll be going in blind!"

Jim chuckled. "Well, yeah! We're explorers! It's what we _do._ We go into the unknown. What would be the point of this whole five year mission? Besides, we've been in worse situations than this one."

He had a point, but that still wasn't convincing to Bones. "I still think we should just wait here for a little while."

"And do what?! I say we go."

"Damnit, Jim! We ain't about to go running off into the damn sunset like some cowboys! Doing that would be…it would be…"

"Illogical."

All three men turned, with high-raised brows.

She moved closer to them, a slight smirk pressing against her lips. "Hello. I am Nebula."

**~oo000oo~**

As soon as they were back on the Enterprise, Bones had her in the medical bay, looking her over. Jim stood off to the side, eyes narrowed on her. Spock stood by his side. The first thing he noticed about Nebula was that she wasn't a 'girl' like the Admiral described. She was a young woman—maybe around his own age, maybe a tad bit older. The second thing he noticed was her skin tone. Slightly dark and milky; like mocha. She reminded him of Uhura. They honestly could be sisters.

There was something else he noticed. Something big. Something that he was sure no one else would. He noticed a pull within him, towards her. When he had first seen her, he wanted to throw his arms around her. It was as if he was relieved they had found her, but for what reason other than to fulfill their mission?

"Well," Bones chimed in. "She's perfectly healthy. There's not a damn thing wrong with her at all. Not that I suspected it. She was marooned on that planet though."

Jim narrowed his eyes slightly; that uneasy feeling still in the pit of his stomach. "How long were you on Gamma V?"

"A few months." She locked eyes with him, never blinking. "I have been conducting minor research for Starfleet. Gamma V's growth has risen substantially."

"You were testing the land."

"Affirmative, Commander Spock."

Bones huffed. "She sounds like a Vulcan, but where're her pointy ears?"

Jim nodded his head. He had to agree with Bones. Nebula did sound somewhat Vulcan with her proper vernacular. But it was something else familiar about her…

Just then, Carol rushes in with a folder. She opened it to reveal something to Bones. The look they exchanged and then the one they gave Nebula made Jim stiffen. "What's wrong?"

Carol bit her lip and hesitantly handed the folder to Jim. "I think you should take a look at this Captain."

Not liking this already, Jim snatched the folder, with a mumbled thanks. His eyes scanned the various numbers and letters. His eyes widened a bit. He figured Carol was the one who performed the test. She hardly made mistakes, if any at all. What he was seeing was right, but the slight confusion and fear that was nearly choking him to death, wouldn't allow him to believe it.

He looked at Carol and then to Nebula. "Bull-fucking-shit."

**~oo000oo~**

Nebula was quiet as she stood in the brig. Her hands were clasped behind her back. At only five foot five, she was still quite impressive when it came to her presence. She didn't look opposing, but with her strong features and her equally strong wit, she was a force to be reckoned with. Although, she never used who she was against anyone. It was one of the reasons why Admiral Abbott didn't kill her when he had the chance. She was so different than her people. She was more peaceful than they were.

She stared at the crew who stood before her. Some of them were staring back at her; others were talking quietly amongst themselves. She still could hear them a little. From what she gathered, Nyota Uhura was the beautiful woman off to the side who was speaking candidly to the blonde, Carol Marcus. Then there was Doctor Leonard McCoy, the Vulcan Spock and of course…James Tiberius Kirk.

She smirked slightly at Captain Kirk. She wanted so bad to speak with him, but she knew he must first get over his anger he had towards her because of whom and what she was.

Finally, Jim broke free from the conversation. He paced in front of the brig. His eyes laced with hot fire. "You have a lot of explaining to do Miss Nebula."

She smirked. Her interest in the Captain elicited a certain annoyance within Carol Marcus. She could feel it. Though she had no ill feelings towards the woman, if she in fact got between her and Jim Kirk, Nebula would not stop at nothing to get rid of her.

"What were you doing on Gamma V?"

"As I have stated before Captain, I was doing research."

"Why?" Jim bit out.

"Upon orders from Starfleet. The planet is growing so much. We wanted to simply take samples of the ground and other surroundings to make sure it was inhabitable for the people there. We wouldn't want them living in dangerous and strange conditions."

"Is that all?" Her smirk turned into a warm smile. This had made Jim's heart skip a beat.

"I guess I should tell you who I am Captain Kirk."

He sneered, nearly foaming at the mouth. The pain behind his eyes was back and so were the voices. He tried his best to push them to the side so that he could actually hear what she was about to tell him. His fingers twitched at his sides. "Who are you Nebula?"

"I think you know who I am. Deep down inside, you know me Captain Kirk."

"WHO. ARE. YOU?!" Jim didn't have time for the games and the bullshit that came with them. He wanted a straight forward answer.

"I am an Augment."


	3. Chapter III

**A/N: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know. The first few chapters were rushed. :-) It's because I work and I really wanted to get SOMETHING up, instead of letting it sit in my head. Hopefully, things will settle down a bit, which means I can actually dedicate myself to writing so that the story won't seem so….rushed and bleh-y. BTW, you get chocolate (or the candy of your choice) if you can guess who Abbott was in STID. Should be pretty easy…Enjoy!**

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**CHAPTER III**

Jim could feel the pounding get more and more severe the longer he stood and stared at Nebula. He wanted to give her a big 'DUH!' seeing as how he and the others already knew she was an Augment from her blood charts. Maybe a part of him just wanted to hear her say that she wasn't and that those numbers on that fucking piece of paper were wrong.

But no, they were right. Carol was right and Nebula confirmed.

Bones shook his head. "We don't need this shit again, Jim."

"I agree, Captain," Spock stepped forward, his body positioned to the side of Jim's, yet behind him. "Like Khan, she is dangerous; therefore we cannot predict her actions and her motives. To protect you and this ship, we must trust our gut instinct and inform Admiral Abbott that we will hold her in custody and then—"

"I am assigned to the Enterprise, Commander."

Spock raised a brow, his head making a slight tilt to the side that only he could do. "Oh? And what makes you think that?"

"Admiral Abbott has stated that after my research was complete, I would be stationed. I requested the Enterprise."

"Why?" Jim's question was quiet, but it was heard.

She looked at him, her features softening. She wanted to tell him. Wanted to tell him everything that she knew, but now was not the time. She needed him to have a sound mind; needed him to attempt to trust her. She licked her lips slowly before answering. "The Enterprise is one of the greatest ships in Starfleet. The fact that it has been cleared for a five-year mission is…unthinkable. That is how much faith everyone has in her. That is how much faith everyone has in you, Captain Kirk. I've wanted to work with you, all of you for two years now. Finally, I—"

"Excuse me for being rude, Nebula, but how long have you been a part of Starfleet?" Spock asked. He didn't remember her as a Cadet.

"I joined when I was eighteen, Sir. I am now twenty-five."

"How old are you really?"

"Two hundred seventy three."

"Where did you serve?"

"During Academy, the USS Fargo. After graduation, the USS Bison, where I was stationed mostly in the laboratories, under Doctor Beverly Shaw."

While she was speaking, Uhura was tapping away on Carol's PADD. She sighed out of disappointment. "She's right," her eyes scanning the credits of Nebula. "She's telling the truth, I mean."

Spock's brows pulled to the center. If she were a Cadet, she would have taken at least one of his classes. He didn't remember her at all. He glanced at Jim, who seemed to be in some sort of deep thought.

Spock was right because the words that Jim had heard swirled deep inside him. He was more than angry. Because of Khan, the man he looked to for guidance was gone. His family almost died. His crew almost died. Hell, actually _did_ die and hundreds of people lost their lives! Now, there was another Augment aboard their ship. But he couldn't do to her what he really wanted to do (and that was kill her). Something was holding him back, causing his feelings to conflict.

Even before Uhura announced the truth to Nebula's story, he had known she wasn't lying the whole time. Somehow, he just knew. He also was starting to feel that she wasn't a threat. That still didn't make him any less angry at her and at Admiral Abbott. He understood why the man didn't tell him who she was—meaning an Augment—at first. If he did, Jim would have declined. After the incident with Khan, no one would have blamed him. His migraine was getting worse and the bright lights around him weren't making it any better. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he slammed his eyes shut. Those damned voices were back. Actually…they had never left. His mother. Pike. Nero…everyone. It was as if they were inside his mind, screaming at him. He heard the words, but could never make out what they were actually saying. They were all speaking at once and they were all over powering his head.

"Captain?" Spoke noticed something else was troubling Jim by his body language alone.

Bones stepped closer. "Jim? I think maybe you need to—"

"Just shut up," Jim said through clenched teeth.

Bones made a face. "I'm just trying to—"

"He is not speaking to any of you." Nebula pointed out. She knew and wanted so bad to help him. To pull the attention away from Jim, she spoke up. "Science is my forte so, my station here is to work under the guidance of Doctor Marcus and Commander Spock. I hope that would not be a problem for the two of you."

Spock didn't say a word, but Carol stepped forward. "I do not think it would be a problem, but you have to understand our weariness about you and…your kind."

"My kind is safely locked away in their cryo tubes. You have nothing to worry about." She looked at each and everyone one of them. "I assure you that I mean no harm. I am not like the others." The looks on their faces told her everything. She bit her bottom lip, wondering what she could say to ease their minds. She didn't want to bring harm to any of them or the crew of the Enterprise. She just wanted to be a part of the team and work under Doctor Marcus and Commander Spock. While she admired Doctor Marcus' achievements, it was Spock whom she really thought was a value to Starfleet and the Federation as a whole. "I know the truth of what happened with Admiral Marcus, though much of it has been watered down for the general public. You feel that you cannot trust Admiral Abbott because of him. And you feel that you cannot trust me because of Khan. I completely understand, but let me just say this: give me a chance. Give me once chance and if you ever feel like I am jeopardizing the safety of this ship and its crew, then I give you _my_ permission to eliminate me."

Uhura's brows furrowed. "You're ordering us to kill you. You're putting your life in our hands."

"Of course. I trust you."

**~oo000oo~**

Jim had decided that Captain Pike was the only one at Starfleet, under a higher rank, that he could trust. Since he was dead, who else was there? After Admiral Marcus, his faith in the higher ranks was depleted. But…he gave the order to let Nebula go and to assign her as the assistant to Carol.

Instead of going to the bridge, he made a beeline for his room. He just needed a few minutes alone. Before he could completely relax, he contacted Abbott through a short message and confirmed Nebula's presence. The mission was complete. Actually, it was even a mission. Maybe he was a masochist in a way, but he was expecting to be running from some creature that wanted to pick his brain or something. Out of all of their missions, this one was boring. From the migraines he had been getting lately, maybe boring was what he needed. Boredom and shore leave. His eyes had just closed before he heard a knock on the door.

Shit. So much for rest.

Maybe if he just laid there quietly and ignored them, they would go away.

_Knock, knock, knock._

Maybe not.

Rolling off his bed, he walked out of his bedroom and through the common room. Pressing the button, the door opened to the side with a swoosh, revealing his First Officer. He couldn't help but smile. "We've been apart for minutes. You miss me already?"

Spock's brow lifted, but the expression had quickly left. Jim had already walked to the couch, which allowed Spock to cross the threshold into his quarters, with the door closing behind him. "I have come to see if you were alright, Captain."

"Jim."

"Technically, you are still on duty, so using your name informally—"

"Whatever, Spock," he chuckled. He glanced up at his First Officer, who was still standing by the door. His hands were clasped behind his back; shoulders squared and stiff. "I forget this is your first time in here." He patted the spot next to him. "Come, sit. I won't bite." He smirked.

There was a slight flutter in Spock's stomach, but he quickly brushed it away. He knew Jim was unaware of his flirtations. He flirted with everyone! After the day he died, Spock became highly aware of everything about his Captain. _Everything_. The revelation was quite startling, but of course in true Vulcan form, no emotions were expressed.

Obeying his Captain, he walked to the couch and carefully sat. "Permission to speak freely, Captain."

"Only if you call me Jim. You're in my personal space. It's the least you can do."

"Are you feeling up to par? Lately, I have noticed questionable behavior from you."

Jim snorted. "I'm sure you can't wait to run and tell Admiral Abbott right? He'll put me on indefinite leave and I'll be stuck on Earth in my apartment with nothing, but Bourbon."

"I am sorry if I gave you the impression that I wanted to tell Admiral Abbott. Since we are in your personal space, this is not me as a First Officer asking you. This is me…as your _friend_ asking if you are alright."

Jim noticed the softness in Spock's voice. One he hadn't heard since he was dying. There was a certain vibrato to his voice, which made it impossible for Jim to not just sit and listen. Spock had a beautiful voice.

'_Where the hell did that come from?' _Jim thought.

"I'm okay, I guess," he said after a few moments of silence. He tore his gaze away from Spock's, who in turn was looking at him intently. Jim had noticed the darkness in his eyes before and it was really unsettling at times. "I just…" he sighed, not sure if he should say anything. Would Spock understand? Jim wasn't sure that he himself understood.

"You can tell me anything."

"I hear things." There, he blurted it out. It didn't sound quite as stupid as he thought it would, but it was out in the open. When Spock didn't say anything, Jim continued. "Voices. Voices in my head. I hear my mom, Captain Pike. I even hear my father sometimes. The weird thing is, I also hear Khan." The name was enough to send a shiver down his spine. Slowly it went from top to bottom.

"And what do these voices tell you?"

"That's the thing, I don't know. I know they are saying something, but I can't make out what. Every time one speaks, the others do so too. It's all jumbled up nonsense, is what it is. To make it worse, I have these migraines that are killing me. Literately, I think they are trying to kill me because the pain of them…" he shook his head slowly. "It's almost unbearable at times. Then of course, there's the zoning out thing."

"You mean the daydreaming?"

"I do not daydream!" He huffed. "Okay, so I do, but it's nothing in particular. It's like I blackout and then when I come back, I don't remember how I got there or what happened before."

"Have you spoken to Doctor McCoy about this? Doctor Marcus, maybe?"

"No. Why would I talk to them?"

Spock blinked. "Doctor McCoy is your Chief Medical Officer and your best friend, might I add. Doctor Marcus and you—I presume—are in a relationship. I assumed that maybe you had spoken to her about your ill well-being."

Jim wished he could talk to her. The thing is, he didn't want to. He knew she would listen with open ears and open eyes, but for some reason…he just didn't want to talk to her. He found himself becoming uninterested more and more. Carol was one of the best things that happened to him, so what the hell was wrong with him? "I haven't spoken to anyone, but you," he said quietly.

"While, I think you should speak to Bones at the least, my suggestion would be that you either meditate or take a few days of personal leave. The prior and latter suggestions would be effective enough, seeing as how you can't sit for more than five minutes to meditate."

Jim saw something in Spock's eyes. There was a slight flash of amber that went through the darkness of those brown eyes. He looked closely and saw it. What that worry? He gave his signature smirk, letting it spread widely across his lips. "You're worried aren't you?"

"No." Spock blinked. Well, of course he was worried. Why would Jim ask a foolish question such as that? "Yes."

"I knew it." Jim laughed triumphantly. "You care about me. You try to pretend, but deep down in that cold heart of yours, you care. Besides, I seem to remember a single tear falling when I was dying."

Spock's body went rigid. How dare he joke of something like that? "Do not ever speak of that moment, Captain."

Jim noticed how dangerously low Spock's voice had become. Gone was the softness and in its place was a certain edge. "I'm sorry…that was stupid of me. I just…I don't know how to deal with all of that, so why not make a few jokes?"

"I do not find them amusing, Sir."

"You don't find _anything_ amusing, Spock." Jim chuckled and shook his head. He felt slightly better after opening up. As much as he hated visiting the sickbay, maybe he would later on, just to make sure he was okay. It would give him a closer look at Nebula anyway. She would, no doubt, be somewhere around there. He placed a hand on Spock's thigh. "Thanks for listening. I…" His sentence trailed off and he looked down at his hand, feeling a small jolt.

Spock felt it too. And even through the fabric of his clothes, he could feel the heat coming from Jim's hand. It was hot, even for him. He was silent and didn't say anything. He opened his mouth, but nothing came out but a breath he didn't know he had been holding.

**~oo000oo~**

It was tense down on the medical deck. For now, none of the other crew members knew what Nebula was. They all decided to keep that a little secret, but she was introduced to various crew members, during her tour around the ship. She seemed excited and as soon as they had made it back to the sickbay, Carol put her to work. She half expected Nebula to decline, but she jumped right into work without a word.

Carol still didn't know how she felt about the whole thing, but she decided to give Nebula a chance. She wouldn't trust her, but she would definitely give her what she asked: a chance. Before she got started on her paper work, she needed to check up on Jim.

Punching in the code to his quarters, she walked in and came to a slow stop. She wasn't expecting Spock to be there. "Um, hello?"

Jim snapped out of it and snatched his hand away from Spock's thigh. Both men stood and greeted Carol with a nervous smile.

"Is…everything okay?" She raised a brow.

"Yeah, everything's fine. Spock and I were just talking."

She nodded her head in acceptance, though she felt a very small, ping of jealousy. He never wanted to talk to her. What made Spock so bloody special? "Well, I didn't mean to interrupt. I was just coming to check up on you."

"Ah, I'm fine. As a matter of fact, I probably need to go and see Bones." He walked around the couch and gave her an awkward kiss to the head.

"And I was just leaving for the bridge." Spock nodded to Carol and passed Jim on his way to the door. "Captain, I strongly suggest you take the rest of the night off. I shall take the con for the remainder of your shift."

Before Jim could even refuse, Spock was gone and the door was closed. Sighing, he glanced down at Carol.

She wrapped an arm around his waist before going up to the tips of her toes and placing a kiss to his lips. "Come on, Darling. I'm on my way to sickbay anyway. I'll walk you there."

"Lead the way," Jim smiled and followed her. He flexed his hand, which was still tingling. The feeling was unusual, but not at all unwanted.


End file.
